PNW Part 9 (Second Beach)

In case you’re not familiar with the beaches along the PNW coast, here is a a bit of explanation: To access the beach, you must park in a lot (or along the side of the road) up top, then walk the deceptively short-looking distance down to the beach. The hike to Second Beach took what felt like a looooong tiiiiiime and due to many twists and turns and elevation changes, it made for quite a little workout. This turned out to be a good thing because there was plenty to see along the way…

It felt like we were visiting another world and it was impossible to ignore the fact that we were in a rainforest climate.

Every surface of every thing was teeming with life, but there was also decay – beautiful, twisted decay – everywhere as well. The circle of life was in full swing.

The beach itself was a stark contrast to the lush green cocoon of the world along the trail and beautiful in a completely different way.

I was new to the term “sea stacks” but that is what these big rocks sticking out of the ocean are called. They are actually part of the land that used to jut out into the ocean, but over time, erosion has separated them from the mainland.

To me, they were simply breathtaking.

To get a grasp of the scale of the beach and the rocks, play “Find My Children” in the next picture:

We hadn’t brought flashlights (very stupid of us!), and the trip back up to our car was dark even in broad daylight because of the lush forest, so we had to leave before we were ready to. But….I did get to see something* I thought was a mythical creature imagined by Santa Cruzians of questionable sobriety.

Pacific Banana Slug

Thus ended another wonderful day in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest.

* It has been brought to my attention that the California banana slug that is beloved of UCSC is bright yellow with no spots, while the banana slug I found is of the Pacific variety

If you liked this, you’ll LOVE the previous posts in the series! Look here:

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